VII.] THE RELIGIOUS WARS. 123 Medici, and his wife Margaret was as bad as himself. But she had never come forward as Queen of France, and lived in a not very respectable retreat. At last their marriage was set aside on the ground that the dispensa- tion had been forged, that the bride had never consented, and that Henry had then been a heretic. Even then it was hard to find a wife for Henry among European princesses, and his choice was another of the house of Medici, Mary, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Tus- cany, a weak, vain, selfish, and mischievous woman. 20. Administration of Sully, 1600. — The finances were in a deplorable state, and Henry did wisely by committing them to the faithful Sully. He found the royal domain almost entirely alienated, and the revenue far from equal to the expenditure. The collection of imposts was in the most untrustworthy hands, manufactures and commerce were ruined, and husbandry in a wretched state. Sully's clear head and upright temper were set to bring this mass of confusion into order, and did their best to set farmers and peasants to work. In the South mulberry-trees were planted, the breeding of silk-worms and weaving of silk were encouraged, and these employments were eagerly taken up by the Huguenots, a thrifty and industrious race. Trade revived, and was fostered by a treaty with James I. of England ; the colonization of Canada began, and cod-fishing and the fur-trade were carried on upon the American coast. For the transport of merchandise at home, roads were repaired, bridges were renewed and built, a great canal system was arranged, stations for post-horses were fixed, and the entrances of towns were planted with avenues of trees, which still in some places bear the name of Rosnys. In truth Henry was the only King of France, except Philip Augustus and Lewis XI., who had any notion of what constituted the welfare and prosperity of a country. He was the only one since St. Lewis who had anything like a heart for his people, and this is his most real claim to the title of the Great. 21. The Treachery of Biron, 1600. — The most difficult persons to deal with were the nobles of the king's party, who had become accustomed to lawless exercise of power during the wars, and held that their merit in supporting Henry could not be too highly rewarded. They thought moreover that the free manners of the camp of the King of Navarre could be kept on by them in the court of the King of France. The most
